Established in 1919 the Forestry Commission was initially tasked with expanding the UK's severely depleted woodlands after the first world war. Over the years their role has broadened considerably to include forest research and public recreation as well as timber production. In recent years, due partly to public critisism of their over reliance on coniferous trees, they have started a major diversification of their forests - clearing large numbers of conifers, replanting native broadleaved trees and creating small ponds and open spaces where wildlife can flourish. They manage more land in the UK than any other agency (over 200,000 hectares)
In 2019 the organisation undertook a major rebranding and is now made up of three parts: Forest Services who are the government’s expert forestry advisors, Forest Research who deliver internationally-renowned forestry and tree-related research to England, Scotland and Wales, and Forestry England who manage the nation’s forests. For now, since this is what most people understand, I've gone with the generic term Forestry Commission for the labelling of their sites and provided a link to Forestry England at the bottom of this page.
The interactive map on this page displays all of the Forestry Commission's sites in Yorkshire. Clicking on any of the marker pins will bring up a brief description of each site and external links for more information.
